Don't Follow My Passion

People would give me advice.

They would tell my younger-self, "Follow your passion." It means going with what makes you happy.

My younger-self wasn't passionate about anything.

​I hated school. I wasn't the smartest student. I always finished my homework in order to pass my classes. School wasn't my passion.

My only escape from school was playing basketball and tennis. I would choose sports over school any day. Playing sports wasn't my passion though.

I went to college. I was forced to study Civil Engineering. I couldn't pass Physics or Calculus. It wasn't my passion. I gave up on Civil Engineering.

As I was getting better at tennis, it became my passion. I went with the advice, "Follow your passion." I transferred to another college for the reason that I tried out for the tennis team. The college tennis coach didn't pick me.

I followed my passion. It didn't go anywhere. It was tough to swallow.

I finished college. I graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Studies with a concentration of Energy Management and Design. I didn't pursue it. It wasn't my passion.

I continued to pursue tennis. I decided to become a coach at a tennis academy. When it was rainy season, I would get lazy. It would lose my rhythm from coaching. I had to advertise myself in group lessons. If students loved me, they would go for my individual coaching lessons. That's where you would be earning more.

I was getting tired of the work and grind from coaching. I gave it a year. It wasn't my passion. I continued to "follow my passion."  

My younger self would keep following my passion. When things were hard, I would give up. Then I would find something that makes me happy. It has been a cycle. I've been moving around. 

In January I told a good friend, "I'm not the smartest. To this day, I'm still surprised that I graduated from college with a BS degree." He told me that I can be successful at anything in life since I'm a college graduate.

"I'm a jack of all trades. What I'm doing right now won't be enough if I start a family one day." I told him. "I'm gonna renew my real estate license. I'll be more focused on real estate and junking. I'll pay on ads for leads. I see it as long-term now."

"You gotta work harder and smarter now," he told me. "You're not young anymore."

A realtor friend told me that you gotta put in the work to be a successful realtor like how you've became a great basketball player.

Don't follow my passion. I need to stay and grow. Work on my craft. Give it time. More than 5 years will do.

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes that you need 10,000 hours in order to be an expert. That's 40 hours a week in 5 years. 

When things get hard, I must be ready. That's how I'll get better. I did it with school for 25 years of my life. I've done it with tennis and basketball for the last 28 years of my life.  

Nothing else has been more than tennis, basketball, and school in my life other than my age. ​

The time is now.